A Summit Meeting of the ACP Council of Subspecialty Societies (CSS)
The summit successfully convened a diverse group of healthcare professionals and leaders, all dedicated to advancing equitable access to obesity care. We made progress in defining the support needed from medical subspecialty societies to empower physicians across the board in providing unbiased and equitable obesity treatment. Participants actively engaged in discussions to eliminate the bias and stigma that hinder patient access, tackled the challenges posed by mis/disinformation, and worked towards forging a collaborative path forward.
Event Details
Date: October 24, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location: Kimpton Hotel Monaco Philadelphia
Address: 433 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Keynote Panelists
Participant Action Workshops
Closing Medical Education and Skills Gaps: Building capacities for effective and empathetic obesity care.
Coordinating Care Through Interdisciplinary Teams: Fostering a holistic approach to patient care involving various medical disciplines.
Eliminating Bias, Stigma, and Misinformation: Combating the systemic and societal challenges that hinder equitable obesity care.
For more information or questions, please contact Tess Bradstock at tbradstock@acponline.org.
ACP would like to thank the following corporate sponsors for contributions underwriting the cost of the summit:
- Abbott Laboratories
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Eli Lilly & Company
- Novo Nordisk Inc.
Christina Wee, MD, MPH, FACP (Moderator), Senior Deputy Editor and VP, Annals of Internal Medicine
Dr. Christina C. Wee is a leading authority in obesity research, currently serving as the Senior Deputy Editor of Annals of Internal Medicine and Secretary for the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. She maintains a faculty position at Harvard Medical School and has previously served as the Director of Obesity Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Wee earned her MD from Jefferson Medical College and her MPH from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her groundbreaking research in obesity, health disparities, and medical decision-making has been extensively funded by NIH grants and has earned her multiple awards.
Linda Blount, MPH, President of Black Women’s Health Imperative
Linda Goler Blount, MPH, is the President and CEO of the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the only national organization focused on Black women’s emotional, physical and financial health. Since joining the organization in 2014, Ms. Blount has overseen more than $20 million invested in Black women and research to prevent chronic disease and HIV, ensure reproductive justice and healthy maternal outcomes, and advocate for health promoting policies. Ms. Blount, an epidemiologist, edited IndexUS, the first research on Black women’s health based on healthy Black women. Her career includes successful tenures at CDC, the Coca-Cola Company and consulting with health ministries in countries in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
Scott Kahan, MD, MPH, Director, National Center for Weight and Wellness
Dr. Scott Kahan is a physician with specialized training in clinical medicine and public health, focusing extensively on obesity care. He serves as the Director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness in Washington, DC, and has held academic positions at esteemed institutions like Johns Hopkins, George Washington University, and George Mason University. His clinical practice and public health initiatives have both been centered around obesity treatment, preventive medicine, and chronic disease nutrition interventions. Dr. Kahan has been a leading voice in obesity treatment policy, serving on boards and committees for organizations such as The Obesity Society and the American Board of Obesity Medicine. He has received multiple awards for his contributions, including the 2017 Clinician of the Year by The Obesity Society.
Joshua J. Joseph, MMD, MPH, FAHA, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Ohio State University College of Medicine
Joshua J. Joseph, MD, MPH, FAHA is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine with Tenure and the Endowed Professor for Research in Internal Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC). He is Co-Chair of the OSUWMC Healthy Communities Obesity and Nutrition Steering Committee and Medical Director of The OSUWMC Healthy Community Center. Dr. Joseph’s National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and United States Department of Defense funded research focuses on advancing prevention and treatment of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease through a health equity lens with 4 pillars: 1) Examining the role of stress hormones in Cardiometabolic Disease; 2) Health System to Community Innovations; 3) Community-Based Participatory Research; and 4) Quality Improvement Science. Clinically, Dr. Joseph treats patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease at a community-based clinic. Nationally, he is chair of the Endocrine Society Clinical Affairs Core Committee, Chair-Elect of the American Heart Association Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Diabetes committee and President-Elect of the Central Ohio American Heart Association Board. He has been recognized for his science, community engagement and clinical impact with several awards including election to Alpha Omega Alpha, National Minority Quality Forum 40 under 40, and the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
Caroline Apovian, MD, FACP, FTOS, DABOM, Co-director, Center for Weight Management and Wellness, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Caroline M. Apovian is a preeminent authority in obesity care with over three decades of experience in the field. She is the Co-Director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she leads the Endocrinology arm specializing in the assessment and treatment of obesity and its related conditions. She is also a founding creator of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, which certifies physicians in obesity care. Her research focuses on the metabolic and cardiovascular effects of obesity, and she has developed novel pharmacotherapeutic agents for its treatment. In addition to her clinical and research roles, she has published extensively on obesity and served as the President of The Obesity Society in 2017-2018.